.
Visions softly creeping towards lamentation of restless dreams spring to mind as Twilights friends gather together, but her presence is lacking. Ideas lacking even more so. At present she braves the depths alone, all the while brief flickers of ideas fail to take shape.
"Well, we have to come up with a plan. You're a unicorn, you must know something about magic!?" Rainbow Dash, ever the second-most excitable amongst their number came just short of yelling. Rarity, currently the only unicorn in their ranks could do little to raise their hopes. Having gathered at an outdoor tea shop in the grand capital, all appeared as it always did. Normal.
"Do calm yourself, darling. Trust her, Twilight is strong indeed. I am working it out. On my own I may not rise to the power of the princesses, but I have been exposed to that power more than once before. I have seen how it works, shared how it feels. Noted what it might accomplish. What you speak of is something wholly different. We all feel that from below, even here. I'm at a loss to explain why no one else feels or sees. I need more time." Rarity explained. Dash sort of leaned on the table, looked off and harrumphed. The entire group was trying to come up with some kind of suggestion as to a plan of action. What could they possibly do against what mostly amounted to bad feelings? The puppets notwithstanding.
Those things striding about the castle were no mere illusions on their own. Solid and substantial creations marching about the grounds as though familiar and owned. To all others their true appearance concealed somehow. The shadows they cast were lengthy, perhaps more dangerous than outward looks may show. A feeling inside said merely attacking these doppelgängers within the castle walls would be to no avail, perhaps even serving to make matters worse. The closer to the castle this feeling of pressure and disturbance became to the group. As though hemmed in on all sides by something intent on squashing them like some errant insects to be brushed away. To this group the castle appeared dimmer than usual.
In the distance the great and grand storied castle loomed above the city as it had for near an entire thousand years. The city springing up about it like plants might spread from their seeds. In time to grow into a mighty force of good in the world. A force now tampered with in a manner most vile, hindered and made all the weaker for it. This strength of good in jeopardy, they must take some immediate action. That much was clear. What action this entailed was not so readily forthcoming. Marching into the castle to confront some apparent ghosts was not an option. Such apparitions were generally confined to little foals stories, something to teach a little of what fear is and how to deal with it. Nothing more. Little else than campfire tellings.
"Time is something we have little of, if there is anything at all you can come up with to help her it has to be now." Dash was correct. At this very moment Twilight could be facing excessively steep odds. The group glanced back and forth between one another. They were all here. Facing a dire situation was not totally beyond their collective experience, but this was somewhat different than anything which had come before. Rarity was deeply lost in thought. No one spoke.
"I've got it!" Rarity looked towards Spike and whacked the table with a hoof, then appeared somewhat embarrassed.
"Uh, ahem, I mean I think I have an idea." Rarity said, somewhat more restrained this time around.
"What, who me?" Spike blinked a couple of times. He was being stared at by the rest.
"Well, not you precisely. Twilight tried to send scrolls via you to the princesses like usual?" Rarity asked, a slight gleam in her eyes.
"Yeah, they never answered, but what does that have to do with anything?" He was looking quite confused by this line of questioning.
"When you send those, they go straight to either of them, correct?" He nodded in response to this, gazing at her raptly.
"Well, yeah. How does that help us?" His confusion was quite apparent, the rest wore about the same expression.
"Simply put, whatever scrolls you send go straight to their location and ignore all obstacles in doing so. If we have you send something right now, then I can trace the direction it heads off in." Having finished her explanation she waited for any comment from the others on this unusual idea. It might be of some utility at least.
"You can do that?" Fluttershy quite usually said rather quietly.
"Well, never did it before, but I think so. I'm not quite sure how useful it is. Better than nothing?" She looked around.
Rainbow Dash for once was a little slack-jawed at hearing this was possible, then spoke up.
"So we did all that searching and Twilight went off on her own to look for them when we could have located them all along anyway? Why didn't she think of that?" Dash was rather perturbed by the entire situation unfolding.
"It's not like we had any idea about all of this. There's no point getting upset about that now. We have something we can use to avoid wasting more time. That's a start." Rarity was right about the overall situation, there was precious little time to think about it or make plans and no real ideas until this moment. Strangely, Pinkie said something uncharacteristic of her.
"I don't like this feeling." She rubbed her tummy in thought.
"It's a backwards feeling, and a backwards feeling is no fun at all." It was a strange, quiet and subdued way for her to be speaking. This did not sound like her whatever. That such a bubbly and frothy personality spoke so gravely said volumes about the very real threat they were now facing. Anyone knowing anything about her at all would recognize the immediate danger this suggested. Something sinister, more than just clattering puppets was almost felt to be tempting their interference.
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No funfetti this time around..